1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to latching mechanisms, and more particularly concerns a latching pawl that is self-captivating and readily accessible to an operating tool.
2. Description of Related Art
A latch pawl is commonly employed to detachably secure various hardware items, doors and similar movable items to a fixed panel. The movable device that is to be latched is moved to a position closely adjacent an edge of the fixed panel, and a swinging pawl, carried either by the latchable device or the fixed panel, is then swung out from a retracted position to a position in which it engages the other one of the relatively movable parts to restrict or obstruct further motion, or to provide a clamping action. In some latchable units an L-shaped pawl has a horizontal leg that is pivoted on a vertical mounting screw so that its second and vertical leg may be swung from a retracted position to a projected position wherein a free end of the vertical leg engages one edge of a panel against which it may be drawn and tightened by rotation of the mounting screw. However, the configuration of the prior pawls causes them to take pressure on the free end of the swingable vertical leg. This pressure is exerted along a line that is displaced from the axis of the screw and causes tilting moment that tends to tilt the pawl outwardly away from its axis of rotation. This moment also tends to tilt the mounting screw itself. When the mounting screw tilts, access to a driving end of the screw, which adapted to receive a screwdriver for example, may be difficult, since the screw is no longer properly aligned in its intended orientation.
Inadvertent detachability of some prior pawls or their parts is another problem. The rotating threaded screw of some prior pawls is threaded into a nut, which then requires an additional lock nut to retain the nut on the screw. The lock nut has been typically used to keep the pawl from being detached from the screw, making the latch pawl assembly of increasing dimensions and unnecessarily bulky. Furthermore, the lock nut may loosen during loosening of a clamping pawl, and it is easily possible to inadvertently completely unscrew the lock nut and latch pawl from the screw. Where the device being secured by the pawl is a passenger control unit that is detachably secured in the recess of a passenger seat, the lock nut and/or the pawl might easily fall into the recess of the seat, where it becomes inaccessible. This would require procurement of a substitute control unit having its own properly configured latch pawl. This replacement is not only expensive but time consuming because of the time necessary to procure a substitute unit.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a latch pawl system that avoids or minimizes above mentioned problems.